Goals, goals, goals
When Real Madrid agreed to sign Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund for €103 million, the Spanish giants knew they were signing one of Europe’s most promising players. But even Los Blancos couldn’t have possibly envisaged the 20-year-old talent taking to Spanish football as well as he has done so far. Prior to an international break that saw the midfielder star for England againts Scotland, Bellingham had already begun showing signs that he was ready to lead the line for his new club in LaLiga.
Indeed, while we may only be a few months into the new season, the central midfielder has already taken it upon himself to create and score the goals necessary to drag his club and country on to bigger and better things. For example, in four league games to date Bellingham has bagged no less than five goals and one assist. Add to that his goal and assists in England’s 3-1 win over Scoltand and that points to six goals and two assists in just five games. Which is a remarkable return for a player that many still assume plays in the middle of the pitch.
Bale, Ronaldo & Co. – Real Madrid’s record signings
Jude Bellingham: The new Real Madrid goalscorer
There are undoubtedly two key factors at work that have led to Bellingham’s prominence in front of goal this season for Madrid. The first one is undoubtedly the fact that following the departure of Karim Benzema, Ancelotti’s side no longer have a striker up front to demand the ball. Instead, Rodrygo and Vinicius Jr play off either wing and allow the space for midfield runners to make moves through the centre of the pitch. As such, Bellingham has simply moved in to a free space on the pitch for his new team.
The other factor is that over the course of his time at Dortmund, Bellingham developed into more and more of an attacking player. As the graphic above illustrates, while Bellingham’s key passes levelled out at a certain level for Dortmund, his tendency to dribble with the ball and to take shots jumped significantly over his three seasons in Germany. To the point that in his final year in the Bundesliga no player completed more dribbles than the young midfielder, who also finished tenth among all players in the division for total shots.
As such, when presented with the opportunity to make runs into the box and score goals for Madrid, Bellingham has not only had the courage to step up for his new club but has also clearly spent the last three seasons developing into a more attacking player. So much so that there’s little doubt that the England international is now best suited to the no.10 role on the pitch, if not even further forward as a second striker. And there’s no doubt that Madrid fans are delighted with this development.
Homepage